X-Men Continuity Problems? Time To Set The Record Straight...

Come one, come all! Bring your X-Men continuity issues with you. And get ready to kiss them all goodbye. No problem too big, no problem too small. That's right, we are answering every and all continuity issues, one way or another... starting right now!

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By dethpillow - 2/4/2014

Now that Bryan Singer's latest epic entry in Fox's X-Men franchise is almost upon us, we can feel the hot sickly sweet breath of Days of Future Past slapping lightly upon our necks and feel it coiled up like a maniac cobra ready to pounce upon us and deliver it's death blow poison strike.

I say bring it on, only god can judge me. But I am seeing lots of clamoring and controversial issues being raised in the Continuity Department. Although lots of people say Mr. Singer and crew will somehow make these continuity problems obsolete by changing the timelines, I say that's not Bryan Singer's job. His job is simply to deliver a great X-Men movie, and that continuity between movies is out of his hands.

This is our responsibility.

One of the saner articles regarding these so called "worries" and "problems" was posted recently, here in this very editorial arena, and it was posted by Gunslinger and it is sourced here as we will be examining first the questions raised by him. Here is also a link to his article, even tho i will keep the numbering of his problems intact, there is much in the comments of that article which might prove informative also, http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/Gunslinger/news/?a=93720.

And thank you Gunslinger, for bringing this topic to my attention.

Beyond this, I have no idea what else you people have problems with. If anyone is left with a problem, it's up to you to ask it here or make another article. But we will answer it for you, that much I guarantee with a happy heart. There's never a question that I've ever heard in my entire life that cannot be answered thru old fashioned good old common sense, wisdom and able imagination.

So here... let us start in this business of clearing up previously Untold Mysteries of the Fox X-Men world....starting right now!
1 - Who built Cerebro? In X1 and X2 it's stated Xavier built it with the help of Magneto but in First Class, Hank (Beast) builds it.

Answer: Cerebro is a strange machine. Hank built it as we even saw with our own eyes. Prof X thru meddling with it was driven to a state of delusion and hatred. This explains it. This is clear thru many hints in the X-Men movies that Cerebro turned Charles into a strange person. Whoever wears it, it's almost like the ring that Gollem owned. it will warp you. Cerebro also holds the answer to many of your so called weird, little "problems". Keep reading and you will be illuminated, once and for all. Don't blame me for what you find when you seek the truth, it's not my job to make you happy. It is merely my job to reveal answers.

2 - In X1, Xavier tells Wolverine both Jean Grey (Phoenix) and Scott Summers (Cyclops) were among his first students. In First Class there was no sign of them.

Answer: This is an easy one. See, he clearly meant Scott and Jean were among his first students, WHO HE DIDN'T MURDER AND EAT. But obviously, didn't feel comfortable with how weird that might have sounded.

3 - We have two completely different incarnations of Sabretooth? The deaf/mute minddless brute in X1, and Wolverine's more eloquent BROTHER in Wolverine Origins. What happened? Are we supposed to believe these two are the same character?

Answer: I have to admit this was a mystery for quite a while. Everyone thought maybe he had undergone some kind of secondary more savage mutation, or that maybe it was just the 80's. But no, definitive proof has arrived that we were all wrong and the answer might be more puzzling than the mystery itself. You see, it turns out Sabertooth was singing in an American rock band called "Metallica". Look, see for yourself...

(still photo of Sabertooth from X-Men:The Movie)

(headshot from "Metallica"'s promo pack)

So chalk one up as another casualty to the dangerous path of sex, drugs and rock n roll. Pretty sad story if you ask me.

4 - Mystique as portrayed in First Class is quite close to Xavier. Actually, that's an understatement. She's his sister in everything but blood. They grew up together from early childhood (7-9?) and you could see throughout First Class they were very close. Even if she becomes a mutant extremist, even if she prefers Magneto's approach to the future of mutants, in X1 she tries to kill Xavier by tampering with Cerebro with absolutely no hesitation. Magneto himself who doesn't share as profound a connection with Xavier seems to be saddened by their disagreements and actually defends Xavier's contributions to the mutant cause. Mystique? She shows no emotion. No connection was acknowledged in the original movies. Doesn't it seem a bit weird? Just a little?

Answer: You guys in Gunslinger's article comments came pretty close to figuring this one out. Close but no cigar. Behold the unseemly truth of the situation...

It was indeed a falling out between the two. And as far as I know, also the true reason that Charles wears a bald wig. Mystique had developed a strange obsession with Charles' hair and she began feeling compelled to lick it on his head all the time. This made Charles very very mad and he hated how it was sticky and gross afterwards and he'd have to go wash it again, and comb it. He's a terribly vain man and it bothered him intensely. Well Mystique one day swore never to lick his hair again. And all was happy for years. Even to the end of First Class, when she leaves with Magneto. Well she would still sneak back and have tea and play outdoor cricket with Charles and the gang. All Until one day, in a violent fit of coughing, out there on the cricket lawn, she coughed up a big huge hairball, of Charles' hair. And Charles saw, and realized she had been sneaking in and licking his hair while he was asleep. And it was so much hair, he had thought his hair was thinning even, but apparently it was just his wretched no good sister figure...Mystique.

So that was pretty much that between the two of them. They never spoke again. Not until much later… But that moment on the cricket lawn, that's when Charles began compulsively wearing the bald wig that you probably thought meant he was bald.

Listen to me…,look Charles is not bald.

He's just scared Mystique will make him bald if he ever takes it off for too long.

So it's that and plus… Mystique also, she doesn't recognize him becuz he started wearing the bald wig.

See, here's something weird about Mystique… she doesn't know what people look like by their faces. no… She goes by people's hair. So how was she to recognize this bald person in a wheelchair? She had no idea, that is the tragedy of it.

5 - In X1, Xavier tells Wolverine he met Magneto when he was 17. In First Class they are in their mid 20s? I assume they are because they look older than 17, and Oxford University graduate Xavier is publishing his thesis on mutation. And drinking pints at the pub.

8 - Let's assume at the end of X3, Xavier transferred his consciousness to his identical twin brother in a coma (codenamed Deus Ex Machina - aka copout). In DOFP he's in a wheelchair again?

11 - In X1 both Xavier and Magneto had no idea who Wolverine was. But in First Class they try to recruit him....

Answer: All of these, in fact most continuity issues can be answered by the same unfortunate truth...

Charles is a liar.

And, no... Charles is not senile, as I saw you guys speculating. In fact far from from it. He's a diagnosed Class 8 sociopath and a compulsive liar. You'd almost say that he can't help it, except for how much he obviously enjoys it and uses it to manipulate and screw everyone else over and get what he wants from them.

And the whole "wheelchair", "Oh poor me, I'm bald and crippled, Look at me!" thing. He's been pulling that for pretty much his whole life... He'll do it to hustle a little scratch, maybe cop some blow, get some tail, whatever's clever, I guess. Just basic short con rackets.

Cerebro really took it's toll on Charles.
This is one of the ways that Singer's X-Men actually does a good translation of the comic book. I can't remember a single comic book where Charles wasn't barking angrily at someone or just plain thinking bad things and trying to make all the kids hate each other. or force them to fall in love with each other. He's a bad person, he always has been.

6 - Moira MacTaggert in X3 was a geneticistic and mutant biologist. In First Class she was an FBI agent? Not to mention the time gap... let's say she was 20 in First Class (being generous for argument's sake). X1 was out in 2000.... that would make her an extremely yummy and well preserved 60 year old...

Answer: Moira is a leprechaun. She's only interested in gold, as gold is the only way to feed her thirst for eternal life. So case closed on that one.

7 - In X2, Beast shows up on TV, and it's clear he hasn't gone through his secondary mutation (blue fur). However, in FC he underwent a secondary mutation? We're talking about 30 years at least before X2. And please, don't tell me it's an Image Inducer. That may exist in the comics, but in X3 when Leech temporarily deactivates Beast's mutation he (Beast) chokes up saying it's been a long time since he saw his own skin.

Answer: 7. Well this shouldn't even be on here... this is just how Beast is. Sometimes he's hairy, sometimes he's a cat, sometimes he's a genius, sometimes he's like looks exactly like you or me. Sometimes his feet are big other times not. Sometimes he's named Hank. Sometimes he wants you to call him "Tiny Trill",
other times.. "The Blue Banana",

Beast is a very strange and troubled person. Sometimes we even think he really isn't a mutant at all, and he's just making the whole thing up for attention. And that he was stealing clumps of fur from veterinary clinics and dying them blue and glueing them in patches on his body. Thus the fluctuations in Beast's physical appearance. It's very sad when you think about it, it really is. Most of the other X-Men know, but they care too much for his ego to ever let on about it.

9 - In FC Xavier knew that Sebastian Shaw's helmet (later to become Magneto's) blocked his telepathy. In X1, he had no idea how Magneto was blocking his thoughts.

Answer: Another question that shouldn't even be on this list. If the helmet is blocking his thoughts, it stands to reason that he would have no idea how Magneto was blocking his thoughts. Because his thoughts were being blocked.

This isn't even about continuity, this is just simple logic. It's like saying if I put a blindfold on you, why can't see me putting another blindfold on you? That's what it's like saying when you ask that question.

10 - Kitty Pryde's power is phasing through solid objects. If she phases through anything electrical in nature, she short circuits it. However, in Days of Future Past, her power allows her to phase Wolverine through time? Seriously? Wouldn't it make more sense to create a mutant specifically for that?

Answer: Kitty's a liar. She never told the team what her true powers was because she's not only a liar, but she's also lazy. And she knew they would keep asking her to use it all the time.

So again, not continuity, but I understand your confusion.

Kitty's power of phasing is pretty stupid. But if I had that power, you know what I would do? Whenever I was out in public and I had to pee...
I would phase myself underground and I would pee there. Instead of ever having to use a public restroom. Then when I was done, I would phase back up to the surface and just act like nothing had happened.

12 - In Wolverine Origins you see Emma Frost in diamond form but no apparent telepathic powers. Quite young as well. In First Class, supposedly about 10 years before, Emma Frost is older and telepathic. And for the naysayers, that is Emma Frost in Origins. Her character's name shows in the credits.

Yeah, for sure, final answer, First Class Emma. that's a tough one tho, and hat's off to both of them.

So I hope that puts a lot of these "issues" to rest. Like I said I have no way of knowing what other nonsense some of you might cook up to worry about. But if you have any continuity issues with these films, leave them here, we will be sure to get back to you with the answer on them.

These movies were crafted according to a very solid plan, and if you can't recognize that then maybe it's time to get a new therapist.

Days of Future Past is definitely almost here, I think it's gonna be a fun one. And cheers to all of you....

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Bump that. I'm posting right in this, because it insults FOX and X-Men.

"But the thing that's probably going to leave people talking the most is the post-credits stinger. They're calling them "The Twins", the brother-sister team of Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, and they don't look like any Marvel heroes we've met to date. Having seen them, I am really sad for Fox and the X-Men, because this sh*t… is horrible in and of itself, but in comparison it's outright embarrassing."

The only continuity Fox has bothered with is Wolverine's. and even then there are issues. And IMO that's alright. They didn't have a single vision from the start. They had multiple producers, directors, and writers, and a ton of characters to work with. How can you expect them to make a single continuity like that? They have done what they could and its not that bad.

@GliderMan - very good article, GliderMan and i do recommend everyone to take a look.

I see we reached many of the same conclusions, and this only further asserts the truths stated here. And indeed the one new issue you brought up was Deadpool and I have to take my hat off to you... and I agree, as u say "It's Deadpool. He can do whatever wants."

X-Men First Class showed Cyclops as a young boy the first time they turned on Cerebro. This was in th3 60's. Are we to honestly believe that he is in his late 40's, early 50's in the first X-Men movie? Same with Storm.

And don't try saying those kids could have been anyone. They went out of their way to show a young kid with red sunglasses on, and young girl with stark white hair for a reason.

Yes, there are tons of X-villains to use. But the thought behind using Toad again is to show the differences between characters in different timelines.

He was evil in X1, but he'll be playing a different part in an altered timeline. Its like this. Remember the Age of Apocalypse saga in the comics? It would not have been nearly as cool if all the characters in the AoA timeline were characters that no one knew. One of the reasons it was so cool is because we got to see characters we knew in different roles.

Anyone that tries to explain the continuity issues is grasping at straws and assuming things. It is a mess, it's a total mess. It's like they start smaller storyline and plot points and then forget about them. Their character selection has been atrocious. What are we at like 8 movies now? And Gambit is next to non existent. The ones they have used have been so underutilized its not funny. Blob, Juggernaut, Multiple Man, Toad, Sabretooth etc etc. All decent characters but totally under used. That list just goes on.

I still love the X Men but I wish they would just get a coherent story going. Each movie seems to leave things hanging and never addresses them.

So Deadpool is still around from when they cut off his head but has not appeared again?

@dethpillow - absolutely brilliant! I laughed my head off. Moira is aLeprechaun in particular almost brought me to tears. Funny thing is, the solutions you found for the continuity problems aren't as far fetched if compared to some of the explanations some users gave on the comment section in my article.

But truth prevails, it has been beaten to a bloody pulp and dragged into the daylight for everyone to see. Fox didn't [frick] up. Singer is a genius who was only pretending to be clueless.

First Class, regardless of how good a movie it was, was a terrible X-Men film. That movie is X-Men in name only, seeing as it strays further from the source material even more than Singer's efforts. However, they figure they struck gold with Fassbender, Hoult, McAvoy and Lawrence. Now with DOFP, they've even figured out how to keep Wolverine in that timeline. So it looks like we're stuck with this.

Unfortunately, they won't reboot until Hugh Jackman decides to walk away from being Wolverine. Fox, Singer, Shulder-Donner, etc. will take this series frontwards, backwards and sideways however they see fit, continuity be damned. I really like Hugh Jackman and I appreciate his dedication to the character, but he's doing more harm than good at this point. And Singer needs to find something else to do with his time. Why not another Usual Suspects-type film? He's cleary not fit for comic book adaptations, no matter how hard he thinks he's trying.

@Gunslinger - you just hit on the true point I have discovered, which is that Singer is truly the one who is having the last laugh... on all of us. For you see, he has masterminded a completely continuous universe, even despite his own misgivings about the matter. His nefarious hand has been behind the shadows this whole time, moving and pulling, scheming and plotting, like a grand chessmaster who is finally now wriggling around in anticipation, about to reveal his cards.

Look no further than this fact... when was the 'future' in the original comic book DOFP? Get ready, sit down and prepare yourself, fix yourself a drink if you must... becuz this is the real shocker.

2013. that's right.

2013.

Which is mere months ago, and now here we are on the brink of Days of Future Past. Coincidence? You be the judge, but any objective judge would say..."No, this is no coincidence." And they would be right, this is the hand of Singer, right under our noses.

@CaptainComicBook - I'm sorry to hear that you aren't a big Toad fan, but regardless, this is hardly a continuity issue. Singer has every right to use Toad, as much as he wants, who are we to second guess? So i'm going to have to say that the only valid claim currently open belongs to @Corndogburglar and it is being investigated as we speak. Every stone is being turned over, in order today, to give all of you the peace and solace of an easy mind and, for once, a good nights rest.

Pretty funny article! I really liked Gunslinger's original one (so much that I created an account to post) and it was interesting to see people's opinions. Some of the theories/explanations were insane though, especially when you see that people kept trying to justify errors by bringing up some obscure element from the comic books and you have a director like Singer who has said time and again that he doesn't want to use the comics as reference. Not to mention that the movies are their own universe, unless something is presented as existing in that universe then then it does not exist. Kind of like what it would like be for people who aren't familiar with the comics.

The audience shouldn't be put into a position where they have to do mental gymnastics to explain inconsistencies in a film. If you find yourself in that situation, then there something wrong with your movies. It takes the audience out of the movie when they have to sit and wonder "Wait, I thought that... wasn't that different in the previous movie? Is that the same person as in that other movie but now younger even though it's later?" and so on. Those kind of issues, at least in my case, prevent me from enjoying the movie.